{"id":193857,"date":"2026-05-02T22:21:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T02:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=193857"},"modified":"2026-05-02T22:21:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T02:21:30","slug":"duke-picks-up-8th-newcomer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/05\/02\/duke-picks-up-8th-newcomer\/","title":{"rendered":"Duke Picks Up 8th Newcomer With Patriot League Transfer, 2 Days After16-Year-Old European Commits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Duke head coach <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/coaches\/jon-scheyer-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jon Scheyer<\/a> is once again building a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/college-basketball\/\" target=\"_self\">top-notch recruiting class<\/a>. The Blue Devils secured their eighth recruit in the 2026 cycle with Loyola Maryland&#8217;s <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/jacob-theodosiou-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jacob Theodosiu<\/a> commitment earlier today, pe<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/college\/duke-blue-devils\/news\/duke-lands-commitment-from-loyola-maryland-transfer-guard-jacob-theodosiou\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">r Riley Giles of On3<\/a>. He visited the Blue Devils on<\/p>\n<h2>Duke Picks Up 8th Newcomer With Patriot League Transfer, 2 Days After 16-Year-Old European Commits<\/h2>\n<p>Theodosiu heads to Durham after two solid seasons at Loyola. The 6-4 guard was a starter for Greyhounds for most of the season and showed signifcant improvement before missing nearly a month due to injury. He saw sparse action in eight games off the bench after returning to action.<\/p>\n<p>Theodosiu is a veteran guard who is seen as a spot-up shooter for the Blue Devils. He is also comfortable attacking closeouts and is a high-IQ defener with active hands. However, the 20-year-old is seen more as a depth piece for Scheyer this year, who could have two years of eligibility left if <span>the <a  href=\"https:\/\/balldurham.com\/jon-scheyer-lands-luxury-addition-of-veteran-guard-for-duke-in-transfer-portal-jacob-theodosiou?utm_source=copilot.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">five-in-five rule passes sometime this summer<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Theodosiu averaged 13.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.6 steals in 27 appearances this past season for Loyola. A high-volume three-point shooter, Theodosiu knocked down 1.1 threes this past season and got to the free-throw line a good amount. But turnovers have been an issue.<\/p>\n<p>Theodosiu was a three-star high school recruit from Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. The Waterloo (Canada) native attended Wyoming, where he appeared in 11 games in 2023-24, before transferring to Loyola.<\/p>\n<p>Theodosiu is Duke&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/04\/22\/john-blackwell-transforms-duke-title-favorites\/\" target=\"_self\">third transfer<\/a> and second from a small DI program, joining <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/drew-scharnowski-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drew Scharnowski<\/a> (Belmont) and<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/john-blackwell-3.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> John Blackwell<\/a> (Wisconsin). The Blue Devils also have five freshmen in their 2026 class.<\/p>\n<h3>Scheyer&#8217;s 2026 High School Class<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&#039;Jon Scheyer is building a MONSTER roster&#039; | Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje commits to Duke! | FIELD OF 68\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iDCea5yfizo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Duke&#8217;s 2026 high school recruiting class, ranked No. 1 by On3 and No. 2 by 247Sports, features three consensus five-star recruits. If the Blue Devils class maintains its ranking, it would mark Scheyer&#8217;s fifth straight recruiting class that finished first or second.<\/p>\n<h5>Cam Williams &#8211; 6-11 Power Forward, Phoenix (AZ)<\/h5>\n<p>Williams is<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/05\/01\/cameron-williams-dukes-new-frontcourt-anchor\/\" target=\"_self\"> considered the crown jewel<\/a> of the Blue Devils class due to his elite mobility and shot-blocking ability, soft touch, and face-up game. Williams is one of the three freshmen who have signed with the Blue Devils.<\/p>\n<h4>Deron Rippey Jr. &#8211; 6-1 Point Guard, Brooklyn (NY)<\/h4>\n<p>Rippey Jr. is a consensus five-star recruit who committed to the Blue Devils right before New Year&#8217;s. Rippey has an elite burst and thrives getting downhill and excels at finishing at the rim due to his NBA-level athleticism. He possesses strong court vision, has improved his 3-point shooting, and is a tenacious on-ball defender.<\/p>\n<h4>Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje &#8211; 7-0 Center, St. Petersburg (FL)<\/h4>\n<p>Boumtje-Boumtje is the 16-year-old son of former NBA second-round pick Reuben Boumtje-Boumtje and reclassified from the class of 2027 to join the Blue Devils on April 30. The consensus five-star recruit played for FC Barcelona club&#8217;s junior team Barca Liga U, where he averaged 16.2 points on 50.8% shooting from the field and 6.7 rebounds.<\/p>\n<p>Boumtje-Boumtje, who will not be eligible for the NBA draft until 2028, is long and very agile. He can stretch the floor and defend in space.<\/p>\n<h4>Bryson Howard &#8211; 6-4 Guard, Frisco (TX)<\/h4>\n<p>Howard is a consensus four-star recruit and has signed with the Blue Devils. Howard, the son of former NBA player Josh Howard, is a long, athletic lefty with a 6-11 wingspan. He thrives in transition while also being an outstanding shooter &#8212; whether off the catch, coming off screens, or off the dribble.<\/p>\n<h4>\u00a0Maxime Meyer &#8212; 7-1 Center, Toronto (ON)<\/h4>\n<p>Meyer is a consensus four-star recruit who has also signed with the Blue Devils. Meyer has elite length &#8212; with a 7-3 wingspan and 9-5 standing reach &#8212; and is considered a long-term prospect.<\/p>\n<h3>An Early Look at the Blue Devils&#8217; Roster<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBMaeOCKYb\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3000px; aspect-ratio: 3000\/2400;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>Scheyer figures to be about done assembling his roster. The Blue Devils have lost five players from last season&#8217;s team, which went 35-3 and reached the Elite 8. Maliq Brown (out of eligibility),y) while<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/cameron-boozer-3.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Cameron Boozer<\/a> and<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/isaiah-evans-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Isaiah Evans<\/a> have entered the NBA draft. Darren Harris (Indiana) and Nikolas Khemenia (UConn) have vacated via the transfer portal.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Blue Devils currently have 13 players on their 2026-27 roster, including eight newcomers. It figures Scheyer could add one more player, either another frontcourt piece via the transfer market or a long-term high school prospect.\u00a0 Santa Clara transfer <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/allen-graves-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Allen Graves<\/a>, who is testing the NBA waters, is <a  href=\"https:\/\/balldurham.com\/who-s-leaving-and-who-s-joining-duke-basketball-s-2026-transfer-portal-tracker\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reportedly a target<\/a> of the Blue Devils.<\/p>\n<h5>Guards\/ Wings<\/h5>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/cayden-boozer-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cayden Boozer\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>John Blackwell<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/caleb-foster-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caleb Foster\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dame Sarr<\/p>\n<p>Deron Rippey Jr.<\/p>\n<p>Bryson Howard<\/p>\n<p>Sebastin Wilkins<\/p>\n<p>Jacob Theodosiu<\/p>\n<h5>Frontcourt<\/h5>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cbb\/players\/patrick-ngongba-2.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrick Ngongba\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Drew Scharnowski<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Williams<\/p>\n<p>Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje<\/p>\n<p>Maxime Meyer<\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a0Geoff Burke-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Duke head coach Jon Scheyer is once again building a top-notch recruiting class. The Blue Devils secured their eighth recruit in the 2026 cycle with Loyola Maryland&#8217;s Jacob Theodosiu commitment earlier today, per Riley Giles of On3. He visited the Blue Devils on Duke Picks Up 8th Newcomer With Patriot League Transfer, 2 Days After [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":193878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773,2,3],"tags":[3120,3772,861,48981],"class_list":["post-193857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","category-featured","category-news","tag-acc-basketball","tag-college-basketball-recruiting","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-jon-scheyer"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193857"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193882,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193857\/revisions\/193882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}